1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for controlling the text that is provided to a text-to-speech converter, and, in particular, to a system in which the text is controllably fed to a text-to-speech converter based on user commands which are effectuated at text boundaries such as the ends of words or sentences.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the use of direct text-to-speech conversion techniques increases, it is becoming more and more commonplace for an operator to feed a text file, or an arbitrary file containing text, to direct text-to-speech conversion system which "speaks" the text contained in that file. Conventional systems, however, provide for only very limited control over the management of the text that is fed to the text-to-speech converter. Generally, only simple controls, like those used to control sound recordings, are provided, such as to begin speaking a text file or to stop speaking a file. Such controls may have been sufficient to control sound recordings but they are inadequate to control the management of text that is fed to a text-to-speech converter. In particular, those controls often result in beginning or ending text-to-speech conversion at random places in the text, for example, in the middle of words or sentences.
This often proves a drawback to an operator, particularly when a significant amount of text is involved as is the case when speaking electronic mail files which include attached text files, and when speaking presentation materials, etc.